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Photos by Ben Keough.

The Best Action Camera

Updated October 3, 2017

Your guide

Ben Keough

After spending 20 hours testing the latest action cameras (building on the hundreds of hours Wirecutter staffers have spent with action cameras over the past three years), including hiking through the rain, attaching them to cars and bicycles, and even mounting them on a dog playing on a beach, we think the GoPro Hero5 Black is the best action camera for most people.

Its video output is crisp, clear, and smooth, with vivid color. It’s also the first GoPro with built-in waterproofing, so unlike with other cameras you won’t need a case to take it swimming. And other innovative, useful features, such as voice control and a user-friendly touchscreen interface (far better for framing shots and quickly changing settings than the monochrome LCD on the Sony FDR-X3000), really push this GoPro ahead of the pack.

The Hero5 Black builds on the success of its predecessor (and our previous pick), the Hero4 Silver, with new features that significantly enhance its usability. The built-in waterproofing is the most important addition, since it means you can shoot anywhere, anytime, without fiddling with a case. But owners will also appreciate the camera’s intuitive touchscreen interface, image stabilization, and voice control. And it’s a relative bargain, too: Despite the expanded feature set, the new flagship GoPro costs $100 less than the old Hero4 Black.

If you want silky-smooth 4K footage and care more about video quality than ease of use, the Sony FDR-X3000 is for you. In our tests, Sony’s BOSS optical stabilization system was more effective than competing electronic systems in virtually every situation, and it works with 4K footage whereas others don’t. The X3000’s overall video quality was the best among our test group, with superior sharpness and great color from its unusual but powerful 16:9 imaging sensor. But the camera is let down by a frustrating, button-driven interface and Sony’s lackluster mount ecosystem. It’s best for people who won’t mind putting up with its eccentricities in exchange for the sharpest possible shots.

The Yi 4K Action Camera’s surprisingly low price and newness to the market might scare some buyers away, but they’d be missing out on a great deal. This camera delivers competitively crisp 4K footage and includes all the same resolution and frame-rate options as the Hero5 Black, along with a well-designed touchscreen interface and a slick mobile app. However, Yi cut a few corners to keep costs down: A waterproof housing will cost you extra, and when the camera is inside the housing, you can’t use that beautiful touchscreen—you’ll need to use your phone to change settings.

Why you should trust us

I’ve been writing about cameras for more than a decade at sites such as Reviewed.com and Digital Camera HQ, and I’ve been suffering from an acute case of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) for roughly as long. I’ve spent countless hours in dark labs shooting test charts, and just as much time out in the field putting cameras and camcorders through their paces.

The Wirecutter has been testing action cameras since 2013. We’ve mounted them at every attachable angle to a Kawasaki street motorcycle and wound our way up Maine’s Cadillac Mountain. We’ve recorded countless hours of footage with action cams fastened to dogs, dirt-bike helmets, surfboards, sports cars, chest straps, and more; one time we strapped a Contour+ and a GoPro Hero2 to hockey pucks and took slapshots. We’ve gone cliff jumping into water, taken cameras go-karting, and even sent GoPros up in the sky attached to drones. In short, we’ve spent a lot of time with them under both everyday and extreme conditions.

Who should buy one

If you spend a lot of time outdoors and want to be able to relive crazy moments, an action cam is essential. What sets an action camera apart from other cameras is its diminutive size and wealth of mounting options when compared with a point-and-shoot, a DSLR, or a video camera. This makes action cameras uniquely suited to capturing footage from a first-person (or animal) perspective.

An action camera has a very wide-angle lens, so it can capture as much of the slopes or racetrack as you want. You can mount it to a helmet, fasten it to the tip of a surfboard, attach it to a hockey stick, or sit it atop a tripod standing super-close to the action. However, unlike a rugged camera, an action camera doesn’t have an optical zoom lens, so what you see is what you record. But rugged cameras lack the mounting abilities, wide-angle lens, and compact nature of an action camera. They’re also typically designed to capture stills first and foremost, while video is where action cameras shine.

How we picked

It’s been a while since we selected (and later reconfirmed) the GoPro Hero4 Silver as our previous pick for most people, and since then we’ve gotten our hands on a suite of other cameras for testing. Numerous action cameras have been announced since our last update, but ultimately we called in only five to test.

Our ideal action camera has a bevy of mounting options, easy-to-use controls, excellent video quality, and decent Wi-Fi/Bluetooth functionality. Additionally, a top-tier action cam must offer multiple frame rates to choose from and include at least 1080/60p (that’s Full HD resolution at 60 frames per second), though 4K/30p is quickly becoming the norm. After researching the available models, we settled on testing the Garmin Virb Ultra 30, GoPro Hero5 Black, Sony FDR-X3000, Sony HDR-AS300, and Yi 4K Action Camera.

How we tested

Testing action cams in a rainforest stream. Video: Ben Keough

Action cameras are designed for use in all sorts of conditions, so we put our test models through as many challenges as possible to gauge their toughness, video quality, and usability in real-world situations. A good action cam should respond well to changing light, cope well with water and dust, handle vibrations with aplomb, and remain easy to use even when you’re engaged in strenuous physical activity.

My first test was to strap each camera to my car with an industrial-grade suction-cup mount and then drive up and down the road to Ski Santa Fe at sunset. The twisting road passes through stands of tall trees and winds across vast open areas, so it provided an ever-changing array of bright and dim light that stressed each camera’s ability to adjust exposure on the fly. It’s not the smoothest road in the world, either, which allowed us to judge how effectively each model used image stabilization to smooth out motion blur.

Next I took the cameras on a strenuous hike through the temperate rainforests of Washington’s Olympic National Park, getting pelted by endless precipitation in the process. This test gave me a great opportunity to gauge how easy or difficult it was to adjust camera settings under adverse conditions. I also tested voice control on the models that had it, yelling at them against the deafening rain and crashing rapids. Then I dunked each camera into a cold mountain stream to make sure the waterproofing worked as advertised.

In California, I strapped the GoPro Hero5 Black to my dog’s back and took her to Huntington Dog Beach, where she romped for hours in the surf. In my opinion, there’s no tougher challenge for image stabilization than a running, shaking, panting dog, and the GoPro definitely got a serious workout. Back in Santa Fe, I took the other test subjects to the local dog park and gave them similar treatment.

I also strapped cameras to my head while driving, clamped them on my wrist while changing a tire, used them handheld to record family moments, and generally picked them up whenever the moment called for it. You know, just like an average person would.

I downloaded each manufacturer’s app and checked out how difficult it was to connect a phone to each camera, and how much control each app gave over vital shooting settings. Since most apps offer the option to download and edit clips, I did that, too. Then I looked into what kind of sharing options they had. I also tried out each brand’s desktop apps and editing tools, where available.

Finally, I put all of the cameras through battery-rundown tests at 1080/30p, 1080/60p, and 4K/30p to see how well they lived up to their promised endurance. Then, to find out how long you’ll be waiting around until you can use your camera again, I timed how long they took to charge.

Our pick

The GoPro Hero5 Black provides the best combination of UI, video quality, and value for most people.

The GoPro Hero5 Black combines everything we loved about our previous pick, the GoPro Hero4 Silver (excellent video quality, intuitive touchscreen interface, affordable price), with the pro features that made the high-end Hero4 Black our upgrade pick (most notably, 4K video). Then it ups the ante with built-in waterproofing, image stabilization, and voice control, wrapping everything in a a small and convenient package. Best of all, it costs the same as the Hero4 Silver, despite all the new features. All of that adds up to the best action camera for most people.

While the Hero5 Black’s video quality is more than good enough for most users and most applications (more on that later), it’s the intuitive interface and clever extras that push this camera ahead of the pack.

GoPro’s touchscreen interface is the best among the cameras we tested.

GoPro’s touchscreen interface is the best among the cameras we tested.

GoPro’s touchscreen interface is the best among the cameras we tested.

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The touchscreen UI is vitally important, since it’s how most people will interact with the Hero5 Black, and GoPro nailed this iteration. It’s more polished, more intuitive, and simply more enjoyable to use than the Hero4 Silver’s, which we already liked. It provides direct access to all of the most-used settings, including shooting mode, resolution, frame rate, and field of view. Battery status is always visible, too. Swiping from the left brings up the playback menu, while swiping from the right accesses additional shooting settings such as ProTune adjustments, stabilization, auto low light, and audio control. Swiping down from the top produces less-used options like screen lock and voice control, plus deeper menus for Wi-Fi and basic device settings.

Much of this info is replicated on the small, monochrome front LCD, so you can double-check it at a glance. You can also use that smaller screen to change menu options when you’re underwater, or otherwise unable to use the touchscreen, by simply pressing the power/mode and recording buttons at the same time. It’s a great backup system that means you’ll never be stuck and unable to adjust a vital setting.

The touchscreen display is important for another reason: It helps you accurately frame shots, since it acts as a live view monitor. The Sony FDR-X3000 doesn’t have a live view screen, relying instead on a paired smartphone or a wrist-mounted live remote (which will cost you an additional $150). That’s a far less convenient setup in everyday use. The FDR-X3000 and its cheaper sibling, the HDR-AS300, are the only cameras we tested that lack a touchscreen, and during our tests they suffered for it in everyday use.

Although the Hero5 Black’s touch interface isn’t the smoothest we’ve used (the cheaper Yi 4K actually has a slightly more responsive screen), it’s smooth enough. We had only a few moments during testing when we cursed under our breath at a mistouch or felt annoyance at screen lag. The touch response was reasonably good when the screen was wet, too, which is critical since the Hero5 Black is the first GoPro that’s waterproof without a case.

In our tests the Hero5’s clips were reliably sharp and contrasty, with punchy color at default settings. White balance tends toward the cool side, which can sap the energy and vitality from some scenes, but if necessary you can adjust it via the ProTune menu. The lens is wide enough for most uses (though not the widest available), and while it features GoPro’s trademark fish-eye distortion, the effect is not excessive. If you want straighter lines, the new Linear field-of-view option de-fishes the image in-camera at the expense of some visual space at the edges of the frame.

Screencap of a 4K video from the GoPro Hero5 Black. Click photo to view the full-resolution image.

Screencap of a 4K video from the Sony FDR-X3000. Click photo to view the full-resolution image.

Screencap of a 4K video from the Yi 4K. Click photo to view the full-resolution image.

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The Hero5 Black didn’t offer the best video quality among the models we tested, however. The Sony FDR-X3000 was slightly sharper, the Yi 4K had more accurate out-of-the-box color, and both were better in low light. In sharpness, the Hero5 Black wasn’t noticeably better than the already great Hero4 Black, but the colors were more accurate, and the contrast was higher. We suspect that the two cameras use the same sensor, with slightly adjusted image processing.

Like the Hero4 Black, the newest GoPro offers a huge selection of resolutions that provide added flexibility. You can choose anything from ultra-high-def 4K down to standard-def 480p, and frame rates range from cinematic 24 fps to ultra slow-mo 240 fps, depending on which resolution you’re using. Most people will probably shoot at 1080/30p, 1080/60p, or 4K/30p, but it has a setting for virtually every situation and intended viewing platform.

Electronic image stabilization is a new feature for the GoPro series, and one that has been on users’ wishlists for years. In testing, we found that the system did a great job of smoothing out low-frequency vibrations and sudden changes of direction. In some cases, it was nearly as effective as the Sony FDR-X3000’s more advanced optical stabilization. However, in more extreme situations with high-frequency vibrations, the Sony clearly pulled ahead. When you’re slamming your Jet Ski across choppy wakes or taking a mountain bike down a brutal descent, optical image stabilization is definitely the more effective option. Electronic image stabilization also crops your frame by about 10 percent so that the camera can use those extra pixels to compensate for movement; the result is a slightly narrower field of view.

GoPro’s mobile app is easy to use—both for shooting and for changing settings.

As with the Hero4, the Hero5 Black has a mode called SuperView (available at 1080p and 720p) that sounds like a gimmick but is actually highly practical. Normally, when you’re shooting in a widescreen format, the camera crops out details on the top and bottom of the frame. This happens because the Hero (as well as most other action cameras) actually has a 4:3 sensor, while 1080p is 16:9. With SuperView, the camera uses the entirety of the 4:3 sensor to capture video and then squishes that image into a 16:9 frame while applying some algorithms to keep the picture from looking totally warped. The result is a more immersive shot, since it contains more of your surroundings.

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The Hero5 Black is the only action cam we tested that records usable sound in the rain, at the beach, or anywhere else you’d normally have to put your camera in a protective housing.

Built-in waterproofing, new in the Hero5 Black, is a big deal. Every GoPro action cam prior to this model has needed a waterproof housing to take a dip, but this new GoPro is sealed well enough to survive down to 33 feet, or 10 meters, au naturel. (If you want to go deeper, the new Super Suit case can handle diving as far as 196 feet below the surface.) To achieve that level of built-in waterproofing, GoPro put the Hero5 Black’s ports, battery, and MicroSD card behind doors secured with rubber gaskets and secondary locks. Those doors are kind of annoying, frankly—the one covering the USB-C and Micro HDMI ports in particular is a font of frustration, often requiring strategic use of a fingernail—but that’s a small price to pay for peace of mind and case-free operation.

The waterproofing has another neat side effect: The Hero5 Black is the only action cam we tested that records usable sound in the rain, at the beach, or anywhere else you’d normally have to put your camera in a protective housing. Tucked inside their cases, the Garmin, Sony, and Yi cameras in our test group all produce muffled audio tracks (unless you use additional external audio gear, which would add extra cost and bulk, and would also require waterproofing), while the GoPro captures crisp voices, rumbling engine notes, and subtler ambient noises.

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If you say “That was sick!” or “Oh, shit!” the camera will auto-highlight that moment in your video.

Another nifty innovation—one shared with the Garmin Virb Ultra 30—is voice control. It may feel weird to yell “GoPro, start recording!” at your camera (it did for me, anyway), but it also feels pretty magical when it just works. And while it might not be something you have to use often, if you find yourself hang gliding over the Alps, you’ll probably appreciate the ability to start recording without taking your hands off the crossbar. GoPro’s list of commands is far more extensive than Garmin’s, and it includes a nifty Easter egg: If you say “That was sick!” or “Oh, shit!” the camera will auto-highlight that moment in your video.

Though the Hero5 Black has been on sale for only a short while, GoPro has already improved it with firmware updates. The biggest addition so far is telemetry overlays, which mimic the G-Metrix feature that Garmin cameras have offered for years, letting you add all kinds of real-time data to your videos. Using GPS data embedded in your videos, you can enhance your footage with real-time telemetry, including distance, altitude, elevation gain, speed, and a map of your route. It’s a nifty trick that plenty of athletes and extreme-sports enthusiasts will appreciate. GoPro’s version isn’t quite as robust or customizable as Garmin’s, since the Hero5 Black doesn’t have as many sensors as the Virb Ultra 30, but it’s still impressive in practice, as demonstrated by this clip of a Ferrari racing around Daytona. (Sadly, that’s not me driving.)

GoPro mounts are famously tough.

GoPro’s advantage extends beyond the Hero5 Black itself. As the most popular action camera line around, GoPro offers the largest number of compatible mounts and other accessories (both first- and third-party), and since the mounting system hasn’t changed with the new design, all existing mounts will work just fine. You can find mounts for handlebars, roll bars, surfboards, helmets, and tripods. Also available are a suction cup for dashboards or car exteriors, a chest harness, and a head strap. GoPro has an alligator-clamp-like grip with an articulated arm, too, and a QuickClip that allows you to fasten the camera to a backward baseball cap. And there’s a dog mount, so you can get a POV look at what it’s like to live a dog’s life. It’s truly difficult to imagine a situation GoPro hasn’t covered. Here’s a decent Reddit post outlining some possible uses for each mount.

Not only does GoPro offer a lot of mounts, but they’re also notoriously tough. They’ve even been known to withstand high-speed car crashes. They also see use, with stock board mounts, at the Titans of Mavericks big-wave surf contest, where wave upon gigantic wave crashes on them with no problems. However, as our outdoors editor Eve O’Neill pointed out, many of the mounts and accessories go together in ways that aren’t immediately intuitive and may require some work to get right.

GoPro’s software is high quality, as well. The Capture mobile app is intuitive and reliable, allowing you to change vital settings during shooting, as well as to edit and upload clips from your phone. On the desktop, the Quik editing suite has nifty features like free music that auto-syncs to the ebb and flow of your video, and GoPro Studio (embedded inside Quik) is a powerful tool for more technical edits. New with the Hero5 series is GoPro Plus, a subscription service that will auto-upload clips to the cloud, ensuring you never lose vital footage to a misplaced MicroSD card. You can also edit uploaded footage from any device, so your external hard drives can stay at home. GoPro Plus isn’t exactly cheap at $5 per month ($60 per year), but subscribers also get 20 percent off accessories through GoPro’s store.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Like previous GoPro models, the Hero5 Black didn’t have the greatest battery life of the action cameras we tested. In our tests, the Hero5 Black delivered about 2 hours, 6 minutes of battery life at 1080/30p with everything (Wi-Fi, GPS, stabilization) turned off, about 25 minutes less than GoPro claims. It was still noticeably better than some competitors—the Garmin Virb Ultra 30 could eke out only 1 hour, 54 minutes—but the Yi 4K trounced it with an impressive 2 hours, 39 minutes. The story was the same at 1080/60p and 4K/30p, as well.

But frankly, none of these cameras have truly impressive battery life. You’ll get about two hours or less of operation in real-world shooting, especially if you want to use connectivity options or image stabilization. It’s best to grab a backup battery or three if you plan to be out shooting all day. In the case of the Hero5 Black, if you’re upgrading from an older model, you’ll need to pick up some new spares, since this year’s model has an all-new cell.

The Hero5 Black’s newfound waterproofing is mostly a blessing, but it’s a potential curse, too. As we mentioned earlier, the doors are tricky to open, and after testing the dog mount at the beach, we found salt deposits that made the situation even more exasperating. You can remove the door that covers the ports for cleaning, but the door for the battery and SD card is permanently attached.

Since the camera won’t live in an external case for most of its life, it’ll also be exposed to all kinds of other grime and hazards. Stuck to my roof on the way up the mountain, our test unit got clobbered by a rock thrown up by a car ahead. The wound was only cosmetic, but if the rock had hit the lens cover, it could have been a different story. At the very least, neat freaks will be busting out their Q-tips and microfiber cloths a lot more often.

Some Hero5 Black owners have complained of battery drain while the camera is off. We experienced this during early testing, but after a couple of firmware updates, the issue went away. However, we’re not entirely sure whether the problem has been resolved across the board, since GoPro didn’t mention the issue in its firmware update changelogs and some owners still report drain even after upgrading. We’ll update this guide if the situation clears up.

Both our main and budget picks produce beautiful 4K footage, but for the best possible ultra-high-definition clips, the best choice is the Sony FDR-X3000. Not only can it claim the widest lens, the highest bit rates, and the sharpest footage, but it also offers optical image stabilization using Sony’s BOSS (Balanced Optical SteadyShot) system. It’s the only action camera available today that can shoot stabilized 4K footage, and for the right user, that’s a huge advantage.

Whereas the electronic stabilization in the Garmin, GoPro, and Yi cameras selectively crops the frame to mimic true stabilization, the Sony model actually does it with real live floating lens elements. This system provides dramatically improved stabilization, particularly when it comes to high-frequency vibrations—when you’re running over rumble strips or dirt-road hardpan in your car, for instance. Pros will probably want to pair the X3000’s optical image stabilization with a gimbal setup, but for most people BOSS will be more than enough.

The Sony X3000’s BOSS image stabilization system is great for smoothing out bumpy rides—like on a dog’s back.

Stabilized or not, the X3000’s output is gorgeous. In our tests, at the default Vivid setting, colors popped without going overboard, and white balance was on target more often than not. If you plan to grade your video in post, the camera also has a Neutral color setting more suited to the purpose. At the highest quality settings, the footage was visibly sharper than the GoPro Hero5 Black’s without appearing oversharpened. The 170-degree wide-angle lens is the widest we tested, and despite its huge horizontal reach, the results were not any more distorted than the GoPro’s. And while still photos are not the main reason people buy action cameras, the X3000 produced the best stills in the group.

One reason why Sony’s cameras produce superior video is its willingness to do things differently. For one thing, its sensor is the only one we tested with a 16:9 ratio. Since that’s the same ratio as HD and 4K video, there are no wasted pixels; it also means each pixel can be bigger, improving low-light performance to the point that in our tests the X3000’s footage was visibly more detailed in extremely dark situations than the Hero5 Black’s. And while other brands’ cameras record MP4 files using the common H.264 codec, the FDR-X3000 (and the cheaper HDR-AS300) can record in Sony’s proprietary higher-bit-rate XAVC-S format, which allows for higher video quality at the cost of larger files. While the Garmin, GoPro, and Yi all max out at 60 Mbps, the X3000 can shoot 4K/30p, 1080/120p, and 720/240p at 100 Mbps. The results are easy to appreciate: less compression, more detail, fewer artifacts. However, XAVC-S footage can be trickier to edit than standard MP4/H.264, and the file sizes can be as much as twice as large, so you’ll need computing horsepower and storage space.

The X3000 is splashproof, with rubber O-rings around all its doors, but not waterproof like the GoPro Hero5 is. That’s okay, though, since it ships with its protective housing included in the $400 list price. The housing is big and bulky, but it gets the job done: We dunked the encased camera in a cold mountain stream and left it in a large stockpot full of water for an hour to no ill effect.

One notable software feature that the X3000 has that isn’t present on the Hero5 Black is the ability to livestream to Ustream via a phone or tablet. The feature is a bit clunky to set up, but once up and running, it works well provided you have a decent connection (Wi-Fi or cellular). GoPro allowed for livestreaming via Periscope with the Hero4 Silver and Black, but it’s unclear how well the feature works so far with the Hero5 cameras, and it isn’t certain whether the incompatibilities are Periscope’s or GoPro’s issues to deal with.

The X3000’s monochrome LCD feels archaic and confusing compared with the color touchscreens that most other cameras offer.

The X3000’s interface is a serious letdown next to the Hero5 Black’s. Sony’s 2016 contenders were the only cameras we tested without a touchscreen UI; instead, they pair a small mono LCD on the side of the body with a trio of awkwardly placed buttons. The contrast in usability to touchscreen-enabled rivals couldn’t be more stark. Without a big touchscreen, the X3000 doesn’t offer live view, which is a serious issue if you’re trying to frame a shot accurately. Sony offers a wrist-worn live remote, but it costs an extra $150 and looks and operates like the clunkiest smartwatch ever made. Alternatively, you can use your phone for live view via the Sony PlayMemories app; it works well, but it’s not nearly as convenient as a screen on the camera itself.

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Sony’s 2016 contenders were the only cameras we tested without a touchscreen UI; instead, they pair a small mono LCD on the side of the body with a trio of awkwardly placed buttons.

Some extreme-sports enthusiasts may also take issue with the X3000’s physical design. It’s deep and thin, unlike the majority of action cams, which tend to be flat and wide. If you’re wearing it on your chest, for instance, it will stick out a lot farther and probably hurt a lot more if you land on it. For most applications the shape won’t make a huge difference, but it’s worth taking into account if you plan to wear your camera on your body.

Sony’s mount ecosystem isn’t as robust as GoPro’s, and the mounts themselves don’t feel quite as high quality. Many pros will probably end up pairing their Sony cameras with GoPro accessories, but to do so you’ll need to buy a third-party adapter to make them fit. That’s because unlike Garmin and YI, which designed their cases to fit GoPro mounts, Sony uses a standard tripod screw. These adapters can be had quite cheaply—a three-pack costs less than $10—but they’ll add complexity to your kit, and they’re easy to lose.

In its case, the X3000 is the largest and heaviest action camera we tested. At 195 grams or around 7 ounces, it’s significantly heavier than the Hero5 Black in its lightweight frame (144 grams or 5 ounces). For most purposes, that won’t really make much difference, but if you’re wearing the camera on a helmet for a long day of skiing, or strapping it to a smaller dog, you may end up with a sore neck or a reluctant pup.

The Yi 4K Action Camera is yet further proof that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover—or, rather, an action cam by its lack of a big brand name. Made by a company tied to Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, this upstart offers 4K/30p recording, electronic image stabilization, a simple and fluid touchscreen UI, fantastic battery life, a user-friendly smartphone app, and a surprisingly low price. For beginners and budget-conscious shoppers, the Yi 4K might be a smarter buy than more expensive options like the GoPro Hero5 Black and Sony FDR-X3000.

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Despite the discount, you get video quality that’s comparable to the Hero5 Black’s.

Price is the Yi 4K’s biggest selling point. Its list price is $150 lower than the Hero5 Black’s, and it has been on sale for as much as $200 less. Despite the discount, you get video quality that’s comparable to the Hero5 Black’s and slightly behind the Sony X3000’s in sharpness. In our tests, colors were bright and accurate with the default auto white balance setting. Unlike its rivals from Garmin, GoPro, and Sony, the Yi 4K doesn’t offer separate color profiles designed for out-of-camera playback or post-production grading, so what you see is what you get.

The YI’s touchscreen is even more responsive than the GoPro’s.

Image stabilization is of the electronic variety, but it’s refreshing to find the feature at this price, and the stabilization works just as well as GoPro’s. It won’t smooth out particularly rough roads or choppy wakes, but it will temper the occasional bump or bounce. As with the GoPro Hero5 Black and Garmin Virb Ultra 30, the Yi 4K doesn’t offer stabilization while recording 4K video; that’s because 4K uses the entire width of the sensor, so there’s no room to crop.

The Yi 4K doesn’t skimp on shooting resolutions or frame rates, even including more exotic options like super-slow-mo 1080/120p and 720/240p. The similarly priced Sony HDR-AS300 doesn’t come close, topping out at 1080/60p. Yi also includes Ultra options at 4K, 1080p, and 720p. We’ve found surprisingly little documentation on what the Ultra feature does, but it appears to cram a wider field of view into the standard 16:9 frame, like GoPro’s SuperView.

The Yi 4K’s touchscreen interface is fast and fluid, even more so than the GoPro Hero5 Black’s. Animations are smoother, the screen is a touch more responsive, and the interface is designed so that each menu item is bigger and easier to tap. The screen has a 16:9 aspect ratio, in contrast to GoPro’s 4:3, so it overlays indicators on top of live view in translucent bars. The effect is slightly annoying, but in most situations you can still frame your shot just fine.

The biggest downside to the Yi 4K’s interface is that it doesn’t work through the optional waterproof housing (you can find third-party cases that claim to provide this functionality, but we haven’t tested any of them yet). Since the only physical control on the housing is the power/record button, you’ll need to either take the Yi 4K out of its case every time you want to change a setting or keep your smartphone handy at all times—far from ideal if you’re surfing or scuba diving. This model is the only camera we tested that suffers from such a shortcoming: The Garmin Virb Ultra 30 has a touchscreen that works through the case, the GoPro Hero5 Black is waterproof without a case, and the Sony models have the same physical controls whether they’re in their housing or not. As a waterproof housing, the Yi 4K’s performs admirably; we didn’t experience any issues dunking it or leaving it underwater.

The optional waterproof housing on the Yi 4K makes it waterproof but prevents you from using the touchscreen.

If you want to edit your photos on a computer rather than just uploading them straight to Facebook or YouTube, you’ll need to find some editing software like iMovie, grab more advanced freeware like Shotcut, or spring for paid editing software, since the Yi 4K doesn’t come with any. It’s the only camera we tested that doesn’t have its own editing suite, but this is a relatively small corner to cut, since freeware options are so good these days.

YI is a fairly young company with only a few products under its belt, and it’s currently in the process of building its American presence after expanding out of China. At this point, we can’t easily predict what the long-term US support situation will be like. However, during the writing of this guide we reached out to Yi via its official support email channel and got a speedy reply. That bodes well for the present, at least.

The competition

The Garmin Virb Ultra 30 has a lot going for it, including solid video quality, a wide range of resolutions and frame rates, a functional touchscreen interface, and a decent mobile app. Unfortunately, compared with the Hero5 Black, which has the same asking price, the Virb offers fewer features and shorter battery life—the worst among the cameras we tested. And the occasionally wonky white balance should have most shoppers thinking twice.

The Sony HDR-AS300 shares most of the FDR-X3000’s strengths but also suffers from all of its weaknesses and then some. The push-button interface still lags far behind all serious rivals’ touchscreen UIs, and while the video quality is excellent—pretty much equal to the X3000’s—it tops out at a mere 1080/60p. Considering that the similarly priced Yi 4K offers 4K/30p and 2.7K/60p options with color and smoothness that are nearly as good, it’s hard to make a serious argument for this Sony model.

We’ve opted not to test Sony’s pint-size RX0 action camera. Although it seems to be well-equipped (it shoots 4K and HD video, and RAW still images), durable (waterproof up to 33 feet, crush-proof up to 440 pounds, and able to withstand 20-foot drops), and attractive to look at (The Verge calls it “a cute little box that promises to do big things”), we can’t ignore the fact that the price tag (currently about $700) is too much for most people to drop on an action cam.

Care and maintenance

You really don’t have to do a whole lot to take care of your GoPro. If you have a carrying case for it, that’s great, but honestly, we’ve never used one. The Hero5 Black doesn’t need a waterproof housing, but if you buy the Super Suit to dive deeper than 33 feet, keeping it in there for storage could minimize wear and tear. We often stuff our cameras into a sock (to prevent the housing from getting scratched) before dropping them in a backpack and running out the door to shoot.

With the introduction of built-in waterproofing on the Hero5 Black, you need to pay a little more attention to keeping the camera clean between uses. As noted above, if you take this camera surfing or otherwise expose it to saltwater, it’ll get crusty around the gaskets inside the two doors. You can remove the smaller door for cleaning, but the larger one is fixed. You’ll need to use a cotton swab to carefully dab away salt deposits. The lens cover is designed to be durable, but it’ll catch its fair share of dirt and grime in everyday use. Be sure to wipe it off to avoid weird artifacts in subsequent videos.

We typically try to recharge the camera as soon as we get home from using it; that way it’s always ready to grab the next time we run out the door. Also, extra batteries are pretty cheap. Doubling your shooting time for around $20 is a no-brainer in our book. A lot of GoPro owners we know travel with four or five batteries for longer expeditions. We typically just charge one in the camera and then swap it out, but GoPro’s own Dual Battery Charger can charge two at once outside of the camera. If you’re doing some hardcore shooting, that will be cash well spent.

Safety

Note that an action camera—any action camera—can make dangerous activity even more dangerous. In a great article for Outside Magazine, Chris Dixon writes about the safety (or lack thereof) of certain mounting options, specifically mentioning poles that extend off a helmet, which can cause the neck to violently wrench if it hits something, and the story of how a BASE jumper’s lines got tangled in his chest cam and he fell to his death. The latter is an extreme case, no doubt, but it should serve as a sobering warning.

We should point out that GoPro and the other major brands don’t sell many of the more dangerous rigs, such as 360-degree swiveling helmet mounts, which produce admittedly awesome footage but are a real hazard for your neck in the event of a crash. Many third-party companies make accessories for action cams (especially for GoPro), and you’ve got to do some real research to see if they’ve done any kind of safety testing. Probably the safest bet is to stick with the bigger, more established names.

Our friends at Engadget compiled an excellent list of GoPro accessories for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users. We include this list not as a recommendation of any of them, but to show you a tiny fraction of the breadth of accessories available. Obviously the more advanced mounts look scarier and are generally more dangerous to use, but even the humble selfie stick can increase the danger factor. We fully believe that the best way to capture footage (or rather, produce the best-looking footage) of yourself while snowboarding is a selfie stick. But we can tell you with utter certainty that we fall a hell of a lot more when we’re boarding with an action cam on a selfie stick—it’s a pretty big distraction, and that can mean real trouble.

What to look forward to

GoPro and Sony each tend to release new models every couple of years, but since it is no secret that GoPro had a rough 2016 (as reported in The New York Times, parent company of Wirecutter), we weren’t sure we’d ever see a follow-up to the Hero5. At best, we expected a new version of the Hero to arrive in late 2018. But the company bounced back slightly from its lowest point and released its new camera at the end of September 2017, well ahead of our expectations. Priced at about $400 ($100 cheaper than when it was first released), the Hero6 Black looks basically identical to the Hero5 but packs a more powerful processor that allows it to record 4K/60p video and capture a wider dynamic range than its predecessors. We plan to test the Hero6 soon.

Shortly after we conducted the testing for this guide, Yi announced the Yi 4K+, which offers 4K recording at 60 fps. At the time, this feature was something no other action camera could claim. The newer model also offers electronic image stabilization at 4K/30p, outclassing the GoPro Hero5 Black, our current pick. The Yi 4K+ is on sale now.

We’ve also noticed that scores of even cheaper Chinese action cameras—such as the Akaso EK7000 and DBPower EX5000—are flooding Amazon, and owner reports suggest that many of them may actually be pretty good.

Some old-school brands are trying new things, too. Casio’s newly announced Exilim FR110H is an action cam that puts an unusually strong focus on low-light shooting. Its 1.9-megapixel sensor sounds ludicrously low-res compared with rivals’ 12-megapixel chips, but fewer pixels means larger pixels, and larger pixels can gather more light. Casio might be on to something here, but we won’t know until it brings the camera to the US, if that ever happens.

Surprised no mention of the 240fps capabilities at 640×480. That’s some serious slow-mo.

HammeredToast

In a resolution unfit for almost anything.

GoPro Doesn’t Deliver!

After having owned the previous version of the GoPro Hero, I would suggest looking elsewhere if you think they’ll sort out their issues. In 2010, I phoned GoPro direct to see when the data-back would be available (since they promised one); it NEVER eventuated in three years. My purchase was made assuming they would finish the production of it, since it was in the testing phase!!

After saying that, the camera itself is actually very good, but when buying, WYSIWYG, you’ll most likely never see any updates, accessories or fixes.

Bryan Tarlowski

Can anyone comment on how good this is in low light conditions vs other ones? I really want to get one of these for the gym to watch my lifts, benefit of go pro is the mounts and tripods I can use which will allow me to mount it pretty much anywhere. But my gym is really dark, not like a bright bright LA Fitness or Lifestyles gym.

fry

sonys actioncam has low light capability and image stabilisation.
so far i havent seen a side-by-side recording (at same time, not combining vid afterwards) where any gopro produced more detail/better and correct colors compared to the sony.
all mounts you can get for any hero, the sony has too, the hero has no dog mount tho.
wrist-watch style lcd provides real-time-vid over wifi, incl rec/stop feature.
cam runs for around 120min with wifi on, and the 197ft housing can be used on all action cams.

The 3 is better than the Sony and the 3+ is better than the 3. Ergo, the 3+ is better than the Sony.

For what it’s worth, no professional reviewer has anything good to say about the Action Cam’s digital image stabilization, but I’m glad that you found a camera that you like.

Norm .

Haven’t searched the web much I see. Here’s a quote for you…”The electronic stabilization system is standard Sony sweet smoothness, and no one can really compare with what Sony has given users of stabilization modes.”

I’m glad you like this thing but the consensus is that it produces sub-par image quality and that the electronic (digital, i.e. not real) stabilization doesn’t work enough to make it worth mentioning.

Gizmodo is the only site that reviews these things doing actual action sports. Here’s what they say: “We were psyched about image stabilization on an action cam. But: It’s not optical image stabilization, which would be awesome. It’s digital image stabilization, which sucks. It does make the shot smoother, but you can’t use image stabilization when it’s at 170-degrees, because it has to crop your shot in order to work. This spreads pixels thinner, resulting in a degraded image.” http://gizmodo.com/5953000/sony-action-cam-review-not-as-awesome-as-we-hoped

Engadget and PC Mag didn’t even bother mentioning it because they evidently didn’t notice it.

the video just shows that when using the go pro u need to us colour filters to make it look good were the others you don’t

Y MIchael?

^^^
gopro is quite disappointing in my opinion at 4 bills

KD

Go pro is not better than sony.

mrankitanks .

but isnt that a pretty old version of sony? the description says “sony’s entered the market”, which was so long back.

Y MIchael?

I do believe that youre stating your OPINION in quite a bold faced manner. And let fry have his free speech; we(or atleast i)’re in America.
And i do believe that Sony has more vivid and lowlight capabilites than ANY gopro, in my honest opinion. And if you think the audios better on the gopro, get your ears checked out.
Sony offers a quality product at a much more affordable price point with comporable results. PERIOD.

hapa

youtube it -_-

Boyan

opro has great features but the battery life is very bad. Hero 3 battery lasts for 5-10 min when using remote control. Image quality is good but the cam becomes useless unless you buy an extra better back and with it an extra case to accommodatre the battery pack. After you do the upgrades you end up with a lot bulkier camera which also weights a lot more and the battery still doesn’t perform well if you use the remote connection.

Why didn’t you mention the new ION Air Pro 3? From the specs, features, reviews, and video samples that I have seen side by side compared to the GoPro Hero 3, the ION Air Pro 3 produced much better video than the GoPro Hero 3 and fairly equal on feature set and specs. From this 3+ video it looks like the 3+ is now on par with the video quality of the ION Air Pro 3.

The drab tiny seems to be gone from the Hero 3+ and the colors are more vivid which is exactly why the ION Air Pro 3 beat the Hero 3 in the side by side tests that I saw.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts and tests of the ION Air Pro 3 compared to this new GoPro Hero 3+.

Its great that you (didn’t) include the Sony Action cam models (as someone else mentioned) which has much better video and image stabilisation (do a search…?) . Has its minor issues but these are more related to its tiny size than any video or build quality issues. Very pleased with mine after purchasing based on some real research. I heard that Red Bull owns GoPro ? Do they own you too? Its what you haven’t said in your review that is relevant here……

We’ve since looked at many Sony Action Cam models and while quite a few were dismissed, we did come to the conclusion that the Sony HDRAS100V/W is worthy of a runner up placement. Via our update box:

In the unlikely event that our main pick is sold out, or if you just want to save $100, we also like the Sony HDR-AS100V. It has image quality that closely rivals the GoPro’s, noticeably better audio quality, and a longer battery life. That said, it has some significant faults, such as a surf mount that will not stay on your board and a case that’s only waterproof to a paltry 16 feet compared to the GoPro’s 131 feet. But still, at $300 it’s a great runner-up pick if the Hero 3+ becomes hard to find and you need something right now (and you don’t care too much about waterproofing).

—-

We review/test many things and just because we didn’t come to the same conclusion as you doesn’t mean you’re right. It also doesn’t mean we’re 100% right either, but we’ve looked at almost everything out there and spent countless hours seeking out the best action cam for most people. We do our homework and show our work. Our results are always unbiased — and if you want to throw around baseless accusations like the one above, you will not be allowed to take part in our comment section.

alyson

I purchased a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition for my daughter…total DUD right from the start…would not charge…housing became boiling hot to touch…contacted GoPro…a week ago…still waiting…

Front what I read coming out of CES, the new Sony HDR-AS100v has the ability to film in 4k at 60fps while the GoPro Hero 3+ Black only does 15fps. Your article mentions that the AS-100V can’t film above 1080p. That simply isn’t true.

Just tell us how much did gopro pay u. Action cam is so much better than this piece of crap

Jacqui Cheng

Hi there. Companies do not pay us to give them reviews (good or otherwise). We narrow down our testing selection based on many hours of independent research and interviews. The conclusions we draw are based on extensive testing, which we spell out pretty extensively in the guide itself.

KD

Not quite enough extensive testing on the sony as-15 it would appear.

Ron

The camera is JUNK. Look at the forum. Unacceptable quality controls, period.

Bastien

Hey. Why don’t you include the Rollei S50 WiFi ? I’ve checked lots of information and it seems to be a very good alternative ! And you get plenty of accessories for free, unlike GoPro policy (add a 1/3 of the camera price if you want accessories).

I agree with Zargon. The writer has put that much effort into promoting the go pro that it’s very obvious to the neutral reader that this is not a neutral review !! It is quite right that the sony hdr as models are superior on image and video quality, especially in low light conditions, this is down to sonys own sensors. It will be worth your while to find out what camera sensors go pro use !!

I have the as-15 and it is superb, it is also smaller and less bulky than the go pro.

Back Off

would you say the as-15 competes with the gp 3+ black edition as far as picture quality?

hapa

Yes, it does compete with the GP 3+ as far as picture quality. Youtube as well as raw videos posted on respective websites show you just that.

nospam

Hey Brent, how about comparing the Replay XD vs the GoPro? The Replay XD 1080 (perhaps mini) are the units I’m considering as a bike commuter. The GoPro is just unwieldy, bulky, and very conspicuous.

ExcelsiorDDZ

I agree, the Replay seems to be the forgotten one since GoPro spends 1 million more times money on advertising.

Max Rebos

And that is why the price of the GoPro is so high. We the consumer is paying for the advertising.

Nice review. One problem I have with this camera is the inability to power it remotely while waterproof. I am a storm chaser and want to put it on the roof of the car, but having to take it out of the case and replace the battery every 2 hours is a non-starter. There is at least one after-market case for this, but it looked dodgy.

Still, a great product and I’ll just put it behind the windshield for now.

rethinking your mount — Unfortunately, your mounting bar is not an optimal platform for a (fair) shootout. Assuming that the center of the bar is the attachment point or center of mass when mounted on a flat surface such as a surfboard (and therefore the pivot or rotation point), the cameras on the ends will experience much greater movement than those in the center for any horizontal movement (unavoidable in action sports unless gimbal-mounted).

The resulting video for the cameras on the end will not only be shakier, but also less sharp. I suggest you try another method or at least move them around during testing.

Eduard

Had You used a Rollei Action Cam?
I think is the same or better and cheaper than Go Pro and the box brings more accessories than Go Pro.
It’s a really good item.

Got news for you. All those professional extreme athletes that use GoPro do it because they’re sponsored by GoPro and don’t have to PAY for them!

I’ve used one for auto racing, and bottom line, they don’t stand up well to repeated abuse, ie. vibration. There are other better, less expensive, sturdier options out there. GoPro won’t be able to rest on their laurels for much longer.

So how does the Silver 4 compare to the Black 3+ using the optional touch screen back? I’d expect shorter battery life and it is a bit larger but has the back that makes it waterproof while retaining the touch capability.

tbarribeau

According to GoPro, if you have the LCD BacPac attached to the GoPro Black3+ and running constantly, you’ll have about half the battery life, but you can use “auto off” to improve that slightly.

The LCD BacPac is waterproof down to 3m/9 feet on its own, but you need to use modified housings in most situations.

If you already have a Black 3+, there’s definitely an argument to be made for grabbing a BacPac rather than a Hero 4 Silver, and saving yourself a couple of hundred dollars for a camera that has mostly the same internals.

Tom

so is the jvc adixxion xa2 better than the sony as100v? I’m interested in the zoom capability of the adixxion because I feel like it might be better for fishing videos and topwater strikes. I’m totally tied between the two right now.

tbarribeau

With a new crop of Sony cameras having been announce cat CES 2015, we’re going to take another look at this review in the not too distant future, and might be able to give you a better response then.

Using zoom on an action camera can be difficult. Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about how you shoot fishing videos, but these cameras are designed to be mounted on to something like your body, or maybe your vehicle (heck, your fishing rod?). In a situation like that, you won’t actively be controlling what the camera is looking at, so when you zoom it’ll be easier to miss the action or be uncontrollably wobbly if you’re not careful! But again, that might boil down to how you plan on setting up the shoot.

Also, keep in mind that the JVC doesn’t have a true zoom, but rather a “digital zoom” which just blows up part of the video file to a larger size to make it look closer.

The Sony also has true optical image stabilization, and higher resolution

All told, unless you really need that LCD, I think the Sony seems a better choice—but then Sony also just announced the AS200v, which looks better yet!

William

Since you’re probably going to be controlling your GoPro with your phone, the LCD screen is no reason to buy the Silver over the Black. The app makes it very user friendly, and you aren’t always in the position with a GoPro to be able to touch it anyway. On top of that, if you want usable battery life, you’ll be buying a battery BackPac anyway, and it will cover up the screen.

I bought my 4 Silver thinking that the LCD would make the GoPro learning curve easier. Well in retrospect, it is already a very user friendly camera. And to date, I’ve never actually used the LCD screen. And even now, it is covered by a BackPac. Even sans BackPac, you can’t use the screen in the most rugged case anyway. I now wish I’d bought the 4 Black. The LCD touch screen on the silver is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

breedm

Amazon’s Deal of the Day is a Polaroid XS100. What do you think? Price point looks killer.

What about Sony’s Steady Shot feature? No other action cam has that ability. A lot of reviews of action cams praise GoPro, I think mainly because it is the standard in the action cam industry. Because it is standard, there are camera’s that are absolutely worse than it, and others that are actually better. The GoPro is a great camera, don’t get me wrong, but the downfall of most reviews are their bias towards it.

Hmmm…speaking of bias and misinformation, there’s lots of that going on here. Others have already noticed the GoPro source articles. I prefer Sony Action Cam over GoPro Black and/or Silver. Sony’s image quality is actually better, the audio is WAY better and so is the image stabilization. Since good audio and less bumps are key to this category, that’s enough to sway me toward Action Cam. Plus, now Sony has a true 4K model in the FDR-X1000V, not to mention a Zeiss lens. Oh yeah…and the waterproof case makes it down to 200 feet–not the “paltry 16 feet” as you mistakenly wrote.

There is no bias or misinformation. The GoPro is the best action camera on the market right now, hands down. We like the ActionCam (it’s an alt-pick), but it’s just not as good. We’re happy you found something you prefer, but your preference doesn’t make the GoPro any less great.

Here is a GREAT recent example of how terrific the GoPro is. Yes, the video is made by GoPro, but I don’t see Sony’s ActionCam doing anything this cool!

Wow; how does this prove that the GoPro is a better camera than the Sony? What makes you (believe) that the Sony would not preform as well under the same example?

I really do not get into squabbles of comparisons concerning products but I do own both cameras and find the Sony to be my go- to camera in most situations primarily because of the quality image, the great sound, the stabilization, and yes, the GPS. I usually use the GoPro if I am in a situation where I am not concerned about camera shake and sound quality. I really have no bias for either camera but I have found that in most situations the Sony has proven to be a better camera and I found this out by conducting many different tests for personal use.

The GoPro is a great camera but most people do not know how to conduct their own research, which is why they tend to (believe) reviews like this and assume that they are actually buying the best device for their needs.

For personal use I truly do not know why anyone would chose the GoPro over the Sony, but I blame that on GoPros terrific marketing and advertising program. Sony does a poor job in marketing their cameras, so GoPro is primarily just name recognition: “is that a GoPro” is often asked by people that know nothing about action cameras at all. They do no know if they are looking at a GoPro or a Sony.

You usually cannot sway such people because GoPro is what they see on billboards, on television and on reviews like this one. It takes a great amount of time to conduct your own research to find out what best suits your needs but usually I find that “most” reviewers are a bit bias and this is understandable because they want to be part of the crowd like the folks that continue to depend on them for making their choices.

wendy

Hi Tony, yes you are biased in most of your video comparison you mainly only argue about color saturation and that is a feature most normal people want in their videos, not only that but the distortion is actually a good thing, if the Actioncam was meant to be on a tripod I would agree but it is for action and movement so it improves the image quality. As for the detail, look back to your video, the only time that the detail was less was when it was on your face, the rest of the video show a lot more detail than the GoPro, I mean just look at the buildings. Anyways so yes, while GoPro may have some great features Sony has found ways to improve them.

You’ll be pleased to hear that we’re gearing up to put some extra, in-depth testing on this topic, to make 100% sure that we recommend the absolutely best action camera out there in time for the summer. We’re really going to push these cameras to the limit to see how they hold up, don’t worry. But you’d be hard pressed to find much negative to say about either the Sony or the GoPro.

But I do take issue to you accusing us of bias or misinformation. Neither camera is clearly miles beyond the other, and there’s room for personal preference. For instance, that 16 feet waterproof statistic? Let me show you some proof:

Cool, glad to hear there will be more tests this year. And you’re correct the Action Cam used to be pathetic under water. Sony has come out with a new underwater housing that’s good to 197 ft, and it has a new front panel that provides much improved image clarity.
As for the “bias” comment, perhaps you aren’t but it just reads that way to me.
Cheers.

TK Goldman

I just checked your “sources” at the article’s end. They’re all GoPro reviews. All eight of them. That’s not bias? There are several reviews that put Action Cam HDR-100V up against GoPro HERO 3 Black and Silver, and he action Cam whipped them both. Plus you can check out tons of user vids on YouTube and see the same thing.
All I’m sayin is you used only GoPro reviews on which to base your opinion.

JCR80015

I have to agree with TK – I was looking for information on the Sony and I had to do a CTRL-F to find Sony – this article is ALL Go Pro…
my 2 cents

JCR80015

I will also say, though: Thank you – this article was still very informative and truly served my needs.
Cheers!
JR

E-Nonymouse A

recent purchasers of go-pro’s are complaining of DOA or DOA within 2 weeks of being used, software bugs causing irreversible hardware issues. The amount of money go-pro’s get sold for is too expensive to be gambling on will my camera still work 1 week after I buy it..
I won’t be buying either camera, i’ll be getting one not reviewed here but thanks to the reviewer for showing us some stuff.

Ric

We all know action camera can do nothing without accessories. From this point of view, I have to say Gopro is definitely a winner.

I’ve used both the latest Sony and the GoPro, and the Sony has noticeably better sound AND video, especially during low-light and when the camera is shaking around. It also has a new housing that puts it well above the GoPro in terms of depth it can go to. I can’t argue with the quality of the GoPro accessory ecosystem and it might be a bit easier to use (though they’re both easy), but frankly I found the Sony to be a better overall pick, as have most people I’ve talked to with experience with both. I found the tone of the article downplayed the Sony option a bit, which I found surprising and a bit disappointing as it isn’t really a ‘step down’.

On the other hand, if that all sounds like a ton of money for something that you’re going to beat the hell out of, the Sony AS100V brings excellent video and audio quality and a long battery life for just $250. It can’t record as high resolution footage, isn’t as waterproof, and doesn’t have a touchscreen or the extensive accessory ecosystem of the GoPro. But it’s still a lot of camera for $150 less.

thievesarmy

Agreed – Sony has DECADES of R&D making cameras and audio devices, some of the best in fact – where as GoPro could be then next Flip Cam. I know which one I’d rather spend my money on. Also, this guide conveniently doesn’t mention that the Sony cam can use all of the Go Pro mounts with a cheap adapter.

compares SONY and GoPro each feature in video view
decide by yourself – after all Sony produces cameras since ages and why it shouldnt have better quality or patents than a new Nasdaq cool advertising young company…

tbarribeau

That video is a bit disingenuous. Firstly, unless I’m off my mark, it’s an official Sony video (those font and color choices look remarkably close to what I’ve seen in a bunch of corporate videos from them), and it specifically looks at features the AS100v that others don’t. Exactly the same could be done in the opposite direction. Where’s the comparison to the GoPro Hero4 Silver, which has a built in LCD touchscreen, which the AS100v doesn’t? Or a wider array of framerates? Superview? A much wider array of mounts? Out of the box deeper water support? It’s the very definition of cherry picked.

Brian

Also, if you can get your hands on one- and are okay with navigating some Chinese menus- the XiaoYi action cam is pretty sweet…. and less than $100!

tbarribeau

We’re going to be looking more at super affordable action cameras at some point in the future, though the non-English menus is going to be a turnoff for an awful lot of people!

Shelby

What ever happened to doing this? There seems to be a lot of good competition in this space now, and I am disappointed TWC hasn’t revisited this in a year.

That’s exciting, when is this going to happen? I’m currently shopping and haven’t seen a good roundup of all of the options.

Jenny Golsby

Hi there, can someone please help me. I work with dogs and would like to get some footage from the dogs perspective. What I mean by that is strapping the camera to the dog to get low down, slow motion footage. I would also like to get a bit of underwater footage – just in a pool as well as footage with the camera strapped to me. I need the camera to be easy to use. What do you suggest. thank you in advance – Jenny

tbarribeau

Wouldn’t you know it, there’s something just for you! A dog mount for the GoPro!

I know they make harnesses that you can attach to a dogs collar, but underwater might prove to be a challenge. You never know though! I know you’re probably not the first person that has wanted something like this and there are SO many kits out there. Will see what our expert has to say

In a future action camera guide, you should consider testing the SJ4000/SJ5000 cameras. While they aren’t as friendly user-interface-wise as big-name action cameras, the video reviews I’ve seen of them seem to indicate them producing excellent video for the price, and it’d be interesting to get the Wirecutter’s take on these two cameras.

tbarribeau

We’re hoping to do a closer look at low-end action cameras in the near future, and those will doubtless be on our list!

lisajh

Low end, don’t you mean low priced, just because it’s low priced does not mean it is necessarily bad.

Jim Robinson

I don’t have the SJ, but I have a “low-end” sport camera and I love it. Great little camera.

I purchased SJ4000 action camera from China. It works very good for the price I paid. You can check my video about this camera: https://goo.gl/CJja7a

Vernon

I’m extremely satisfied with Drift Stealth 2 as an action camera. I use it also during riding to work as an commuting camera, but it’s also decent during downhill mountain biking. I like mostly its small size and aerodynamic shape, which prevents the camera mounted on the helmet from distracting me.

We’re glad you found something you like most of all! We didn’t look at it, it doesn’t have many reviews, but maybe in the future that will change!

Niklas

Thank you, looking forward to it!

Faisal

According to GoPro, if you have the LCD BacPac attached to the GoPro
Black3+ and running constantly, you’ll have about half the battery life,
but you can use “auto off” to improve that slightly.

Not specifically with the 3+ Black, but with other models, people have seen a base level 15-25% battery life drop using the LCD

The LCD BacPac is waterproof down to 3m/9 feet on its own, but you need to use modified housings in most situations.

If you already have a Black 3+, there’s definitely an argument to be made
for grabbing a BacPac rather than a Hero 4 Silver, and saving yourself a
couple of hundred dollars for a camera that has mostly the same
internals.

I have a GoPro Hero from late 2010. Looking online I can’t understand if the current version of the entry level hero is an actual upgrade on the older version. Would it make sense to buy it or is it a negligible upgrade?

GoPro just announced a budget version that hasn’t been released yet, so I’d wait until we’ve tested it and then our expert can point you in the proper direction!

ambiguator

I’m calling shenanigans on GoPro.

Remember 5 years ago when a flipcam was $100?
There’s no reason the price should have gone *up* 500% in 5 years.
Yeah yeah, GoPro has better hardware and blah blah blah.

Bull.
Component prices have been dropping.
Manufacturing prices have plummeted.
Which is to say nothing of Moore’s law.

Where is the sub-$100 entry-level action cam for the vast majority of us who won’t shell out $500 ($500!) for this kind of shiny toy!?

Solublepeter

I was hoping to see the SJCam models reviewed here, to place them against the much pricier competition

Frank Blair

I found this review of the GoPro versus the Sony Action Cams and would like to add. While GoPro does in fact have great marketing, give the Sony product line some consideration. I picked up a “gently loved” Sony HDR-AS100V for a little over $100.00, purchased the new “Flat Screen” underwater case for $29.00 (new in the packaging) and bought the Sony RM-LVR remote (wristwatch) style screen for $29.99 new in the packaging. For less than $200.00 (not including Micro SD or SD XC memory cards) I have a great action cam.
Candidly the sound is far superior on the Sony AS100V and there are now many 3rd party mounts to be had which was lacking earlier.

Just tossing this out for the more budget minded buyers, it can be done for 1/2 the $500.00 pricetag!

travellingaround

So…if one was in the market for one now and wanted to primarily use it underwater but also climbing would you make any changes to Hero4 Silver vs Virb XE vs Bandit?

Tim Barribeau

Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to test these new devices yet—but it’s on the list for the New Year!

Carlos Muniz

So… what happened to this “closer look at low-end action cameras in the near future” 6 months ago ? I’d like to see SJCam, Xiaomi, Eken, Gitup… all these cams are below $150 and feature 4K @24fps, anti-shake, timelapse, burst mode, cycle recording, HDMI output…

Tim Barribeau

It is something we still want to look at! Unfortunately, it’s been backburnered for now, but it’s a project we’re still hoping to address.

Solublepeter

That’s a shame, this is something I was waiting for, too.

Vince

Will you guys do a full review article for all the new 360 cameras hitting the market? I’m looking to take one traveling for recording street scenes and hiking paths, but want to get some expert opinions before I buy one.

Tim Barribeau

There were a bunch at CES this year, and we’re going to have to have a long and close look at them and see if they’re something we’ll dive into. It’s not entirely clear yet how many people would actually find them useful, but they’re definitely interesting.

GoPro announced a new camera in the Hero4 Session on July 6 and it’s interesting, but it doesn’t threaten our top picks. The Session is a 1.5-inch cube that weighs just 2.6 ounces and it’s waterproof to 33 feet without any additional case. That’s plenty for surfing, snorkeling, and just about anything other than scuba. I had no issues with leaking during my testing. That small, square shape means it’s incredibly low profile and you can mount it in orientations previously impossible with rectangular GoPros. But check out the image quality in this video from Wired (video above)

Hi guys, are you aware of the issue that some of the Gopro 4 cameras (both silver and black) have when wifi is turned on? The microphone and wifi antenna are not correctly shielded from each other, so when the wifi is on the audio signal picks up a thumping, helicopter-like noise. It seems to happen with a whole batch of the cameras, but it is unknown how many.

I learnt about this issue when I recently bought a Black edition, and noticed the noise when recording with wifi. I asked for a replacement at the retail store, just tested it, and same issue.

This is a major hardware flaw, there are lots of mentions of this if you google it, and GoPro has issued no official statement and don’t seem to be making any effort to solve this. All they do is replace your camera if you ask them directly for a replacement, and even then it doesn’t always work.

I don’t know if you guys can do something to make this issue a bit more public, and see if GoPro have something to say about it. I’m really pissed. I really like the concept of the camera, and generally dig the company. Members of my family own a couple of the older versions, and I even bought a few GoPro shares. I mention this to make it clear I’m not a random hater, but if I pay 400€ for a camera, by God I want a fully functioning camera.

Hi Rodrigo—thanks for letting us know about this. It’s not something we’ve heard of before, but I’m going to reach out to GoPro to ask about it, and we’ll definitely look at it when we next update the piece.

Tim Barribeau

Sorry it took so long, but we did get an official comment from GoPro about the issue.

Awesome, Tim! I finally got a perfectly functioning GoPro on my third try. I was lucky that the store had just received a new batch, and they gave me one of those. I tested it and it doesn’t have the thumping noise, so this is purely a hardware fault. I believe the software upgrade they mention involves some kind of tweaks to the mic gain, to make it less sensitive to interferences. Anyway, the camera is certainly awesome (when you get one that works). I hope this was a one-off issue and has been corrected in the manufacturing. Thanks for spreading the word.

It’s something we’re going to look into a bit more in the next iteration of the piece!

Luca Lombardi

Obviously GoPro has an excellent marketing department and it’s becoming a cult, like Apple.. They freeze, they corrupt MicroSDs, they corrupt files, “NO SD”, “SD ERR” (even if you buy the microsd that gopro itself recommends), they burn your hand if you touch them after a 5min video, the app almost always fails to remain connected… but “HEY! YOU CAN TRUST ME! Me and the other reviewers and sportsmen paid to write excellent reviews about this cooooool products!”… But in real like gopros are a rip-off and a waste of money. Maybe 90% of gopro users are not as lucky as felix baumgartner when we buy a gopro… or maybe they don’t sell us one that has been tested and picked amongst other 50 faulty ones..

Tim Barribeau

We are taking a fresh look at action cams in the upcoming months, and we’ll definitely be stress testing the hell out of the GoPro, as well as all of the competition—but I do take issue with one of the points you raise. Calling our journalists “paid to write excellent reviews” seems a strange attack. Yes, we’re paid to write excellent reviews. Reviews that are this in-depth require months of work from a staff of professionals to produce. We think they’re excellent, and that our writers deserve to get paid for their work.

Unless you’re saying we’re being paid by GoPro to write nice things about their cameras, in which case I’d suggest you have a look at how we work

We used the GoPro and the other cameras in a variety of situations that mirror how people use these things. If you read the article, you can tell how heavily we trialled them—and we’ve been continuing to do so since the piece was run, since we keep all of our primary picks around for extended testing to see if they fail with time.

You can very well argue that GoPro is overhyped, but in our testing, and in testing from other journalists and photographers that we trust, they’ve stayed the top of the pack for video quality, longevity, ecosystem, and toughness.

Luca Lombardi

Of course journalist must be paid for their job.. But maybe if gopro gives big presents and benefits to the cooooool reviewers, there can be some bias.. How can we otherwise explain the fact that us, paying users, always end up with buggy, unreliable and unusable pieces of crap, and all the coooool reviewers have perfect working models that never freeze, never corrupt cards, never overheat, never delete files, etc…? I don’t have a single friend with a working gopro.. They all have problems.. Especially the hero4. But the ones used by reviewers are all mysteriously perfect..! You have a responsibility when you write your reviews. There can be people that misunderstand your “sponsored content” with a real-life review and spend the hard earned money to buy a piece of plastic that only works in the magic world of coooooool youtube surfers.

Tim Barribeau

GoPro doesn’t give us presents. GoPro doesn’t give us benefits. Any media organization worth its salt has a well defined ethics policy and will describe up front any potential conflicts of interest, such as media trips. And by law, “sponsored content” must be clearly marked as such.

Let’s assume for even a second that GoPro is sending out specifically hand-picked models that don’t have any issues for the dozens to hundreds of reviewers out there who have reviewed a GoPro—even though anyone who has ever worked with product review PR knows that’s not the case. And let’s ignore the fact that I’ve personally spoken with many professional photographers who have bought GoPros outright, and have had no substantial issues. Instead, let’s look at the largest possible body of user reviews to see if there’s an obvious problem.

If, as you say, the vast majority of GoPros were defective, we’d definitely see it reflected in this huge corpus of data.

That’s not to say that GoPros are foolproof. In fact, we were the first outlet to report on the GoPro “helicopter interference” noise, and get an official statement from GoPro on the issue. But to cast it as a vast media conspiracy ignores the fact that maybe we’re saying it’s the best option for most people because it’s actually the best option for most people.

Tom Sittler

I actually made a conscious decision to go with the AS200V over any GoPro product, for one simple reason: It’s more value for money. For what I need a camera for, the built in image stabilization (setting aside the fact that it is the only way to change FOV) greatly enhances my video. The audio quality is phenomenal, the XAVC-S high-bandwidth format allows more data to be captured, so you get clearer video, and I like the form factor a lot better than GoPro. Also, it’s $140 less than a GoPro, without the remote. That’s literally 2 Drift Stealth 2s more than a GoPro. I could have 3 points of view to choose from when I’m editing, rather than 1. How is a GoPro seriously going to be in 3 places at once?

gargarokrotida

Hi there DJI Osmo isn’t worth it a mention if you test action cameras?

Frosty

G’day’
Does anyone know of a vehicle camera set up that can record the four sides from a car.
In other words the right and left sides instead of just the front and rear that dash cams only do.
Obviously needs to be auto turn on with ignition on.

Dharma Bellamkonda

Since this guide was published, the Contour Roam3 has dropped in price by more than 50%. It’s also a good form factor for side-mounting to a helmet and is commonly recommended on motorcycle forums as a budget helmet camera. Perhaps it’s worth another look?

Adam Non

Did you miss Contour?
How about googling HD action cam or ebay or amazon … gopro just has the brand recognition and available for sale where people can make “impulse” $200-500 purchases.
I have a couple of different Contour, GoPro and other race car cameras that including GPS and accelerometer data logging. Contour is the best by a comfortable margin (audio and video) for “suction cup on a vehicle” (anything from race car and motorcycle to dirt bike, golf and sailing) but gopro has the brand recognition. People see Contour on my car and ask if it’s something new.
I think Sony does better than commented in this review (much better) but I think it’s expensive and underwhelming (as is gopro.) When I paid up for 4K, I expected to be awed, but even on a 4K 65″ HDR television, it takes ideal conditions for 4K to be noticeably different (better?) than 1080P and if you run 1080 at a higher frame rate, it can look better. Mostly, having squigabytes of video, I’m happier doing the Mac work on smaller files, too. I think 4K isn’t quite “there” yet, and prices are too high to have at least 360 degrees of cameras (much less full surround through both horizontal and vertical 360 degrees.)

We looked at the Contour Roam3 and while we liked some things about it, there were several reasons why our other picks still came out on top. You can read what our expert had to say about it below:

After briefly shutting its doors, Contour got back into the action camera game with the $200 Contour Roam3, which features improved waterproofing to 30 feet without a housing. When I reviewed it at Gizmodo, I said that while it had a sharp lens, the video quality wasn’t up to the high level we’re used to with the GoPro, especially in low light. It also lacks Wi-Fi, which makes it hard to change settings on the fly, and it’s noticeably larger and heavier than the GoPro. While the $200 price is something of a draw, we’d still opt for the Sony HDR-AS100V if you want to spend a bit less than the Hero4 Silver.

We haven’t reviewed video editing software, but here are a few recommendations from our photo editor:

For lots of control and advanced features, adobe premiere pro and final cut x are both great options. For the beginner, iMovie on the mac will do the job. If you want to dive into advanced video editing without spending money, Davinci Resolve Lite has good editing capabilities, even though its traditionally for color grading work.

Jim Robinson

In addition to Adobe I’ve used Camtasia which is a little less $ and works well. Filmora is probably the best budget-conscious option. It has some quirks, but it helps that it works on both Mac and Windows and has plenty of import/export options and formats. Some pro-level features as well. You can do a free trial, your videos will have watermarks but you can decide then if you want to buy the license. Mine was $49 I think.

the_v1s1onary

Please test out the new Yi Action Camera when you get the chance. I’d like to hear your thoughts before I roll with it.

I’ve tested both and my thoughts: the Yi is not bad but has a few negatives such as no feature for an external mic, the video streaming to the app is laggy, and the built in mics sound worse than GoPro.

Just wanted to get feedback from someone who has upgraded from the Hero 3+ Silver. I’ve been using mine for a couple of years and the things that I’m interested in are faster wifi connectivity and higher quality video / stills.

Any thoughts on whether I should go for the Hero 4 , or wait for the 5?

DANIEL Rogness

Hero 3+ Silver to either Hero4 is a significant improvement. While the 3+ Black is very similar to Hero4 Silver the 3+ Silver just doesn’t compare. The video of the Hero4 Black is about as good as it gets and the biggest “CON” that most reviewers give it is that it’s overkill. As far as stills, check out these submissions on GoPro’s support community,

As far as waiting for the Hero5. It’s only a few months until the release (expected in October 2016). I guess you have to ask yourself, do you really need more than what the Hero4 cameras can give you. The Hero5 is stateted to be, “the most connected camera” so I assume it will give you faster wifi connectivity. The Hero4 cameras do have a slight lag when using the app. It’s not too bad but noticeable with frequent angle changes.

Thanks! Would upgrading to the 3+ Black be similar? That way I could use the same batteries?

Also, do the GoPro 4’s have better wifi connectivity than the 3+ ones?

DANIEL Rogness

The Hero3+ Black is very similar to the Heri4 silver when looking at spec sheets, however the Hero4 gives better detail with distant subjects in the background and gives you more options to control ISO limits and shutter speed. Since the price between the two is not that different, I think you will be much happier with the Hero4 silver. It is unfortunate that you cannot use the batteries from your Hero3 and you will want to pick up a couple smatree or wasabi batteries to have on hand. Unfortunately, the shooting time varies from around 45min 4K to about two hours 720/30fps. I understand that this factors into the price, however I really think you’ll end up regretting not getting the 4 unless you can get a great deal on a 3+ Black. The one thing that the Hero3+ has over the Hero4 is that it is very stable while the Hero4 seems to be a little more temperamental and requires you to use high end microSD cards like the Samsung Pro or Pro+ (Pro+ if your going to shoot 4K) to get trouble free use.

Finally, you mentioned wifi connectivity. I honestly don’t know if there is a difference between the cameras but there is a huge difference between using a smart phone vs the GoPro smart remote. Phones are more prone to interference and have a range usually no greater than about 10-30 feet while the smart remote works up to 600 feet from the camera.

I have a remote, but have never used it because I always have my phone on me 🙂

I’m leaning towards the 4 because with the LCD I can hand it to a random person and they’ll be able to take a shot… But the extra cost of new batteries is a pain. Do all the accessories work with the 3 and the 4?

DANIEL Rogness

If you are referring to the older battery backpack, unfortunately everything I’ve read and seen says that it does not work. As far as Hero 3 cases, mounts, etc., these will all work with the Hero 4 although you won’t have access to the LCD panel. Interestingly, GoPro sells what appears to be the Hero3 housing as a deep water dive housing for the 3+ and 4 since it has a better depth rating. They charge $10.00 more than the standard housing which is funny to me since it appears to just be the 3+ standard housing.

Hope this helps,

Daniel

DANIEL Rogness

Will you be purchasing the camera online or in person? It is alleged, and it spreads to be true, that there was a batch of Hero4 Black and Silver cameras that didn’t have their internal antenna shielded and when using Wi-Fi, people report hearing a, “helicopter” noise in the background. GoPro will replace the camera if you get one but it’s a lengthy process. Amazon is much quicker with the exchange. If you can test and then purchase the camera in person you might save yourself a headache. It’s not on all Hero4 cameras and it only appears when the Wi-Fi is turned on, but if possible, I think it’s worth testing the camera for before you buy it.

One last thing, and I can’t emphasize this enough, only use GoPro recommended SD cards https://gopro.com/help/articles/Block/microSD-Card-Considerations and whatever you do, DON’T USE SANDISK ULTRA! Almost every issue I’ve read, even those that don’t seem to be SD related, come back to the Ultra. I personally use Samsung Pro+ and think it’s the best card on the market for the price. Just be sure to get your cards from a reputable source and double check the authenticity. There are too many fraudulent cards floating around causing people issues.

Thanks last question. I’m interested in doing some software based video stabilization, would the 4k on the black make that easier (or is the 30fps going to look bad)? Or should I still stick with the silver?

It finally came out just as this piece was getting finished, so we didn’t get a chance to look at it, but will in the future. The one thing I’m a bit worried about is warranty and repairs—XIaoMi has a pretty bad reputation in the USA for that sort of stuff.

amanieux

Yi isn’t owned by Mi, xiaomi just invested in yi like they invested in many chinese high tech startups

So in that case, it’s not that Mi owns Yi, but Mi is closely involved in the funding, creation, and marketing of Yi products?

ExcelsiorDDZ

Ummm……Where is Replay XD? You can’t NOT include the Replay cameras.

Tim Barribeau

We’ll try and take a closer look at it in the future—but the availability of the Replay XD Prime seems pretty spotty right now. Amazon only has a handful, and Replay XD doesn’t even have them in stock.

Joe Williams

Just got a Yi 4k and I like it. I’d love to hear what you guys think about it

I’ve tested both and my thoughts: the Yi is not bad but has a few negatives such as no feature for an external mic, the video streaming to the app is laggy, and the built in mics sound worse than GoPro.

I use the second one to shoot two angles simultaneously. I wish I had found it before I sprung for the GoPro. A fraction of the cost, shoots 4k, has wifi and an app, a remote.. When I edit in post, the quality from each camera is the same.

I want to shoot high quality without breaking the bank, so that’s really all I ask.

Kyle Rivetti

any idea where I could find some other reviews of the FTOD 4k camera? I’d like to get some other details about it. tia!

Does anyone know what would be the corresponding model number in Europe?

Scott Moody

Really so sick of hearing about GoPro every where I look. It saddens me to know that so many people are being ripped off in the name of marketing. There are much better and smaller cameras out there at a fraction of the price. The cameras I use kill GoPro in function and quality and they only cost less than $100. PLEASE let’s get off this marketing band wagon and start using better cameras.

Shamoy Rahman

This is no longer the case since the Sony FDR-X3000R is out now and it blows the GoPro Hero5 black out of the water. FDR-X3000R will be my next Action Cam.

I have been reading lots of reviews on the Hero 5 and the Sony and there are some major “use” differences between these two. i get the OIS and better pic part of the Sony but I know from having an electronic camera years ago that was hard to operate with menus that I ended up not using it at all. The Hero 5 is where I am leaning. I don’t do wild sports.

Mark

People on amazon report that GoPro barred third-party batteries in the Hero5 Black with a new firmware update. Now people who bought third-party batteries can no longer use them. There is also a report that the Hero5 Black had a water damage after snorkeling and GoPro refused to remedy the situation.

Ramana

What sort of mount did you use for the dog footage? Any recommendations?

Tim Barribeau

I think it was the official Sony one. If I’m remembering right from talking to the author, it was a good harness, but there were occasional issues with chafing especially with sand and salt water. So make sure you’re rinsing it and your dog thoroughly, and checking in frequently to make sure the dog’s doing okay and not get rubbed rough.https://www.amazon.com/Sony-AKADM1-Action-Camera-Yellow/dp/B00CSMMQWS

What about the latest Garmin? Totally at par and in some features exceeding the GoPro5. Wonder why that was not mentioned?

Ben Keough

Hi Tom. We tested the Virb Ultra 30 (it’s mentioned in the Competition section), but found that despite a lot of nice qualities, its image quality, overall usability, and battery life fell behind both the Hero5 Black and YI 4K. Since it costs the same as the GoPro and more than the YI, that made it an easy dismissal.

Philip J. Maschke

I would like to see a comparison chart of all the battery times, video qualities and features each camera offers (and how you have rated them) to be able to see how this was evaluated as I myself have enjoyed the previous Garmin camera’s more than the GoPro’s mainly due to the G-metrix which earlier GoPro’s did not have (and I somehow don’t think that their first try at it is so much better than the maker of anything GPS related could provide).

Bryce Balderas

Hey Ben my company offers a $140 dollar discount on the Garmin Virb. Would that discount be worth considering purchasing it or would you still recomend the Hero5?

Ben Keough

At $140 off retail I would definitely consider the Virb, as long as you can live with the shortcomings outlined above (no waterproofing, shorter battery life, sometimes wonky white balance, etc). I would also look closely at the $200 YI 4K, though.

Michael Tuohy

You don’t really explain why the Hero5 Session gets no mention in the updated article. The comments suggest that you’ve previously reported on it and that it doesn’t cut the mustard, but I see no evidence that it’s been discussed. Waterproof, voice activation and small size mean that there is no Cheap Chinese Knockoff to compare it with. So even if you gave us some information on why I WOULDN’T buy it, that would help. Also, you don’t speak to the illegal price fixing that GoPro is so blatantly involved in. That is a curiously absent discussion.

Ben Keough

Hi Michael. We like the Hero5 Session a lot, but considering its asking price is higher than the more capable YI 4K while it offers fewer features and worse controls, it didn’t make it into our testing group. If it appeals to you, there’s no reason not to buy it, but from a value perspective it didn’t make sense for us (and, we believe, for most readers). As far as price fixing goes, that’s beyond the scope of our guide; we judge the products on their merits, including price. Thanks for reading!

From issues with the camera itself (causing lost video), to battery display issues, to the battery backpack ironically sucking battery, to their chest strap breaking after a few uses… I’ve stopped buying GoPro.

Throw on top that a videographer friend and his colleagues avoid GoPro as much as possible for quality issues, and the Karma recall, and its not surprising the companies struggling.

This is just my experience (and my friends), but it has been pretty consistently bad.

I had tested it previously for another site (https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/ricoh-wg-m2-review/conclusion.html) and based on that experience my editor and I decided I didn’t need to handle it again for this guide. Once I tested the contenders here, I found that all of them (even the ones that didn’t end up being picks) are better choices than the Ricoh, largely because of the poor overall image quality from the Ricoh lens and the awful WiFi setup. If you want a really, really wide-angle FOV it might be worth a look, but for the average user the GoPro, Sony, YI, or Garmin are all better choices.

Anshul Soni

What about yi 4k+ ?
Have you tested that against these? what is your impression?
4k+ can shoot 4k at 60 fps when go pro can only do 30
I got 4k+ but I am willing to switch to gopro 5 is thats better, I am looking for a camera for scuba diving. Also the waterproof part of go pro doesnt matter in this case because I am gonna take it to 60ft so I need waterproof case for it anyways.
Thanks in advance .

Tim Barribeau

We haven’t had a chance to look at the 4K+ yet, as it debuted just as this guide was being published. We’ll definitely look at it in the future, though.

justin lewis

What about the new dbpower waterproof action cam. Was reading about it onhttp://www.techgadgetstoday.com/dbpower-waterproof-action-camera/ and it seemed like a good, reliable camera.

Brian Ward

For a budget option checkout the Fitfort 4K action camera available on amazon for $63.99 USD. Comes with a mountain of accessories. I’m amazed at what you get for the price.

Lifez Eazy

Wow that is a good article & a thorough review. Great choices man. In addition to these, there are 4 more action cameras which I personally find best. I have used a couple of them and they are good in terms of features, usability plus they are cheap. Feel free to check out herehttp://lifezeazy.com/best-cheap-gopro-competitors-action-camera/

It seems the Netgear CM500 has a fairly frequent/severe overheating issue.
Just wanted to point that out.

I had purchased the old recommendation the SB6141 which has a problem on Comcast switching from 150mbps to 200mbps. I decided to grab the Arris SB6183 which works well up to 300mbps, and pay a premium, to forgo the CM500 because the crazy heat scares me.